Need suggestions for very picky eater

[Devon's mommy]

My 20 mo ds very seldom will touch anything on his plate unless it is one of the few things that he loves such as chicken tamale, grilled cheese sandwich, French toast, pizza, fruit flavored yogurt.  And sometimes he won't even touch those even when I think he should be at least a little hungry.  Also there are some things that he seemed to love in the past such as plain cheddar cheese, chicken nuggets, ravioli, fish sticks, but now he won't touch them at all.  I try to always give him at least on thing that he likes, but sometimes if it is paired with something he doesn't think he likes (but probably used to eat), he won't eat anything. 

I know that sometimes he may not eat because he's not hungry since he had some milk or a cracker earlier, but a lot of times he won't even eat a dinner of something he used to like even if he didn't touch his lunch.  I do give him some snacks of a few crackers or raisins between meals, but I don't think it's enough to ruin his main meal. 

Plus, he likes apple sauce but he have anything to do with it at all until I manage to slip a spoon full into his mouth and then he realizes it is tasty and will eat the rest.  I can't get him to eat any vegetables.   Any time he gets brave and puts a veggie of any sort into his mouth, he'll spit it right out and make a gagging sound.  And the only fruit he will eat is bananas, and I have to hold the banana with the peel attached while he takes bites. 

He has been progressively getting worse and worse with his eating since he was about 12 months old.  As a baby he ate everything I gave him, now he looks healthy and well fed, but is the pickiest toddler I've ever heard of.  I think that a lot of times if I can just get him to take one bite of what ever I've given him, he'll eat the rest.  The trick is to get him to take a bite.  But I don't want to force him.  Telling him to just take one bite, does no good.  Does anybody have any ideas they can offer me?  I'm desperate.     Thanks!

[tylersmommy]

Tyler's food likes and dislikes change constantly too...I really can't keep up! I just try and keep offering him different foods and if he won't eat them, fine. I'll let him go ahead and eat whatever his fancy happens to be that week as long as it's healthy, and he generally moves on to something else within a week or 2. When he was your DS's age, he also refused to try anything new, and we didn't push the issue at all. Now he'll try just about anything once and I think it helps that we didn't make it a big deal when he was younger. And he's still not a big veggie eater, so we've had to find creative ways to disguise them. Honestly, it does sound like your DS eats a pretty healthy diet, so I wouldn't stress too much about it.

As for appetite, it's pretty normal for toddlers to eat you out of house and home one day only to eat air the next. If he isn't losing weight or waking during the night in hunger, your best bet is to respect his appetite and go with the flow. Toddlers have a remarkable way of knowing how much food their bodies need!